1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to colored fabric paints in which paint is dispensed from a container onto fabric to decorate the fabric.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently, fabric paint is dispensed from a hand held container to custom decorate fabric or clothing. These fabric paints are typically sold to the general public to enable the custom decorating of clothing, such as the addition of names, designs etc. to the clothing. Many of these fabric paints are of a three dimensional type which bond to the fabric, but are not totally absorbed into the material, so a substantial portion of the paint remains above the surface of the fabric to enable three dimensional decoration.
The dispensing containers for fabric paints are designed to discharge a thin stream of paint to enable precise application for detailed designs and writing with pen-like ease. The dispensing containers are usually plastic bottles that, when squeezed, force the fabric paint out through the nozzle in a single stream.
If multiple colors are required, multiple bottles of fabric paint are used, each bottle dispensing an individual color of fabric paint. When multiple colors are to be used side by side, careful application is required, to prevent the colors from unintentionally overlapping or to prevent too wide a space between the two streams of color. Thus if multiple colors are desired in close proximity, there are application difficulties, and much time and effort is needed for careful application. As fabric paints are becoming more popular, so are more complex designs. Some designs may require the application of multiple colors of fabric paint adjacent to each other. There is thus a need for an improved way to place multiple adjacent colors of paint on fabric.
The bottles of fabric paint are filled using very large filling mechanisms with filling tubes suspended from the mechanisms leading to the bottles below. The filling tubes are placed just above the neck of the bottles and the paint is charged into the bottle using the paint injectors.
It is well known in the prior art, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,490,177, 4,545,819 and 4,604,139 assigned to Sakura Color Products, that if two colors of ink are desired to be dispensed from a single container, they must be of different chemical compositions The Sakura patents disclose a method of mixing two types of ink together in a dispenser wherein each color is of a different absorption level. When the two types of ink are dispensed together and come into contact with the material, the two colors will separate, as one will be absorbed into the fabric and one will remain above the surface of the material. Thus the chemical composition of the two different types of paints facilitates the separation of the two colors. There is, however, still a need for a way to apply multiple colors of a similar chemical composition while not allowing for substantial mixing of the colors in the bottle or during application.